Detonating cap.



E. HERZ.

DETONATING GAP.

APLwATIoN FILED SEPT. 1o, 1912.

atmted Feb. 25, 97.3

vplosifon.'

EBMUND HERZ, OF VIENNA, AUS'RIA-BSUNGRY.

DETONATING CAP.

.Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September l0, 1912. Serial No. 719,562.

To aU whom 1i 'muy concern Be, 1t. lfnoivn that l, EDML'ND Hmz, a citi#zen of Austria. resi/dino at Vienna. Austriany Hungary, have invented anew and lin proved Detonatiug tap7 ot' which the fol lowing is aspecification.

This invention relate. to a novel detonating cap containingan explosivewhich is designed to replaoe'tho t'ulniinatiiu;v .mercury hithertogenerally employed t'or this purpose.

lfuhninating mercury has the disadvantage that it is extremely poisonousand that its manufacture is oangerous and complicated, thus ehtailingf acouiparatively high cost of production. The detonati. -pld sives, suchas aromatic dia'lo conipminds which, have been suggested for replacing'the ulniinating mercury are not reliable and Jfail frequently to oliother explosives, due to a relatively sinall amount. of oxygen. so thatthe carbon present in 'those conipounds was insulieiently oxidized thusresulting-iii a rather lon' tcnnlieinture ot exil reliable and e lectivodetonatoi' must not only cause a violent detonating` shock, but shoulddevelop sutiicient heat to bring the explosive to beset oil lo thenecessary highv temperati'u'c at its point of Contact.

`ocordinfr to niy invention. diazo comH pounds of perchloriu acid areused as det.- onating explosives more particularly for the reason thatltney contain a large per4 centage of oxygen. 'The diazoporcl'iloratcs ofthe simple, as well as of the aromatio l1ydrocarbons constituteextremely powerful and rcliable (tetonating-l explosives, which'inezizponsiie may be nianutzu'tured without danger, and are lire dampprooi".

The diazoperchlorates surpass other diano salts not only in explosivepower and briskness, but thoy are of superior stability andsensitiveness to mechanical influences. ln

oontradistinotion tothe diazochlorids,'diazosulfates and diazonitratesthe, diazoperchlorates are scantily soluble 1n pure water, and

lare almost insoluble in water containingr erclilorio acid, thus showinga close resemM glance to the slight-ly soluble potassium perchloratcs.-This t'actl is ot considerable importance for the manu'tzu'ture ot' theiazoperohloratcs, for the reason that it a solution of an aromatic aminin perchlorio acid'in excess is mixed with sodium nitrite,

the diezo compound thus formed is precipitated as i tine powder, thussimplifying the manutan-iure thereof. -ln connection with their scantsolubility, the diazoperohlorates are not hygroscopic, so that theypossess a superior staoi'lity a. iinst humidity and-'may be exposed toair saturated with aqueous vapors without becoming decomposed andwithout an impairment of their explosive qualities. The indifference otthese salts afiaiiisty water` etc., is still increased by the presenceot' halogens, negative groups such as Clit), lUOl-li, or thi.l nitrogroup NO2. This latter group is more particularly adapted t'or thislpurpose, on account ot its high percentage oi oxygen. so thatthe eX-plosive power of the Haal-product is correspondingly increased. -is tothe uunibe of nitro groups which may be added to tht; salt`r it may bestated that no more than two j; 'oups should be introduced, while theinavinnun ell'oct attained by adding butl a sii Asgroup. s furthermorethe br ,JlinesxI of coinposiion of the diamiperehlorates is uit a highorder, while thc formation ot llames i'niniuuun, percussion caps lilledwith these salts arc notI liable to ignite tire damp or any whirlingcoal dust'.

lhe most. stable and brisk salt of perchloric acid which is adapted forfilling perci..ion Caps, is the inononitratcdbcnxolcompound.lnnianufacturingl this salt.y puro crystallized nitraniliu (themotaooinpound beingy preferable) is dissolved in diluted peroliloricacid of the specific gravity of 1.19, the acid being' hon'- evcremployed to such an excess that attcr the completion ol" the reaction`vtroc acid is still present'. 'lo the solution thus obtained. thereisi-added sodium nitrite in such a quantity as is necessary fordiaf/,otizinxe` the sodium nitrite being used either in solid forni orin highly concentrated solution. Although the. heat yfreed during' thisroaction is but small. it is advisable to provide somel cooling means,inore Imrticularly ,when Working" in large quantities. Thenitrodiazobenrcolperchlorate thus formed is `inimediately precipitatedas a fino crystallized powder, which after settling, may be readilyseparated from the liquid to be then 'repeatedly Washed with highlydiluted perchloric acid, alcohol and ether. The following salts may beproduced in analogous manner: diazotoluolperchlorato.diazoxylolperchloyrate, diazonaphthaleneperohloratc,diazoanthraceneperchlorate. nitrodiazotoluolper# consequently best vacidsolution. Ylhus for instance Jr'roni nitropnrepheng-'lenet inniin,there' may be obtained nitrobisdiezobenzolperchlorate under thecondition, that nitrous acid is innintained in excess, asotherwise-triominoozoor aziinido compounds would be formed.

The igniting capacity of the above de-` scribed compounds isconsiderable find superior to that o" fulininuting mercury sind otherdetonating explosives. Thus, for instance, a charge of picric acidcontained in a cartridge may be fully eriplodedA by 0.015 to 0.02 frraniof nitrodinZobenzolperchlorute. For exploding fuhr-dynamite, gelatindynamite, clieddite, picric acid and trinitro toluol, 0.02 to 0.05 grainof nitrodiazobenzolperchlorate is .sulicient and eren the leest.

sensitive annnoniuin nitrate explosives may be set olin by O l to 9.3grano of said perchlorate.

lfn practice, the diazoperchlorates are used either alone ond erefiledinto a. shell No. 2 or 3, or they are combined with some other briskexplosive. So' for instance, l gram picric acid is filled into shell No8 and then say about 0.02 groin of nitrodiezobenzolperchlorete ispressed into said shell. Care should however be teken to avoid a direct;contact between these tiro explosives,

so' that they will not actupon each other upon decompositionA Theseparation of the explosives tray be effected by4interposingtherebetweena. sheet of tin foil, copper, etc. It is furtheradvisable thatfthe entire charge of the shell be closed by tin foil orby a perforated sheet of copper, which besides confining' the charge,prevents any dangerous friction during the insertion of the fuse. lfdesired, the shells may finally be var nislied in order to render themperfectly tight.

l detonating cap of the character' above f 'lescrihed4 is illustrated inlongitudinal section in the accompanying drawing.

The numerell indicates the shell into which is pressed n chargeA 2 ofsay picric acid, and u superposed charge Bof saynitrodinzobenzolperchlorate. These charges are separated from each otherby a sheet of tin toil 4, while a copper cap 5 connes them within shelll, said cup being perforated as et 6 for the introduction-oi" the fuse.

For the purpose of this invention.- the homologues or substituteproducts of the diazoperclilorates of the aromatic hydrocarbons areequivalents of the latter.

claim:

l. e, detonating cap for explosives, composed of n shell containing :idiazoperchlorate of -eneromatic hydrocarbon. Q. A detonating cap forexplosives, coinposed of a shell containing a diazoperchl'orate of nnitreted aromatic hydrocarbon.

. EDMUND HERZ.

vVJitnesses t AUGUST Focene, ADA MARIA BERGER.

